ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the definitions of the legal harm of sexual harassment in the USA and Austria, and argues that the law and its perception or implementation are only tenuously related. The European Union's (EU) legal standard had a marked influence on the text of Austria's law, and continues to have a formal role in the interpretation of sexual harassment claims. Sexual harassment claims in US federal courts under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act must first be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 180 days of the sexual harassment. While organizations have been generally supportive of sexual harassment claims and in educating workers as to the existence and meaning of sexual harassment, there have been some deviations in this support, especially in the western regions of Austria. While assistance with claims brought before the Labor Court may be free, this is not the case with the civil courts.
